A Warrior's Life For Me
by AmazingViola
Summary: When Sen and Echo are transported to the land of Warriors, they have no idea what is in store for them. They will encounter curses, wars, illness, and much more on their quest to save the clan and become human again.
1. Chapter 1

**Senile**

It was a normal Sunday as I walked to my friend Echo's house, I was thinking about what we could play. Next week Echo and I will both be fifth graders! Suddenly, I heard Echo yell "Come on Sen, I bet a snail could beat you to my back yard!" I quickly raced off to her back yard and as it turns out she still beat me. As soon as I got there I felt like something big was going to happen. I decided that it was nothing and I asked Echo what she wanted to play, but as she was about to answer I felt a weird pull in my stomach and everything went black.

When I woke up I felt like I was wearing a soft and warm coat. I also felt another part of my body that I could move. I was testing it when I felt it brush something so I opened my eye and saw it was a cat! She was just about to lick me when she saw my eyes open. My mother (Well who else could it be?) was a slender calico cat with a white nose. She was very pretty.

**Third Person**

The calico cat looked down at her new-born kits. Looking up at her was a large black cat with brown paws and a white tip of her tail.

Just then a tom stuck his head in and said "Tree-claw, have the kits-" he suddenly stopped in the middle of his sentence as he saw the kits.

Tree-claw licked his shoulder and said "what do you think we should name them?" Just as she said it the other one opened her eyes, she was smaller than the first one and looked like she was going to be very fast. She also had a dark brown pelt, light brown paws and the tip of her tail was black.

**Echo**

As I woke up I felt something warm but I did not care. I opened my eyes and my first thought was _Oh my gosh, I'm surrounded by cats!_ my second thought was _Oh my gosh, I __**am**__ a cat! _ Suddenly I heard a warm voice say "Oh good, you're awake". As she spoke, I felt very scared. While studying the cat, I felt a tap on my shoulder, I looked around and saw another cat. She looked like a normal cat accept she had Sen's eyes. "Are you" I started to ask but was cut off by her saying "yes" and looking at me.

**Dust-tail**

They were the most beautiful kits ever, I just could not stop looking at them. I was so happy that I let out a purr of laughter. Then Tree-claw asked me what their names should their names be. I thought for a moment then said "I think this one" I nudged the bigger one "should be called Mountain-kit."

**Mountain-kit **

_Hmm_, I thought, _Mountain-kit, I like the sound of that_. But there was still the problem of what Echo would be called.

Suddenly Tree-claw said "I know, how about you" she said, nudging Echo "are called Owl-kit!"

_Yes, I think Owl-kit fits Echo very well_.

**Third Person**

As Dust-tail walked outside, he could not keep down his excitement. Suddenly, he was nearly nocked down by his sister, Leaf-nose, who excitedly asked "So, how are they?! What are their names?!"

Dust-tail gave her a glare and said "Leaf-nose, relax. They are wonderful, and their names are Mountain-kit and Owl-kit." Dust-tail watched as she ran off to tell the other warriors. Then, he headed to the fresh kill pile got a vole and walked back to the nursery.

**Owl-kit**

After Dust-tail walked in with the fresh kill, I looked at Mountain-kit and said "Sen, do you think we should we call ourselves by our human names?"

"Sometimes" Sen said, looking very smug.

**Mountain-kit**

I was pretty sure that if cats could grin, I would have a huge grin on my face. And if glares could kill, I would now be dead. Echo was glaring full on at me, but to be fair she really had a very good reason. A few years ago, we had both read the **Fire Within** series. In that series, the word "sometimes" was used as a word of suspense so my using it to answer her question annoyed the daylights out of her. Finally, breaking under her glare, I gave in and said "Ok, we probably should not call one another by our human names."

I was so focused on our conversation that I did not notice a new cat walking into the den until Tree-claw said "Oh Speed-paw, how was your first day of being an apprentice?" At that I turned around and saw a cat standing in the doorway. He had a thick gray pelt with black stripes on his back. His white paws had gray flecks and the tip of his tail was jet black.

**Speed-paw**

"Hi, my name is Mountain-kit and this is Owl-kit" said the larger of the two kits in Tree-claw's litter, looking expectantly at me.

"Hi, I'm Speed-paw. Do you want to come with me to see the camp?" Both kits ran, looking exited, to ask Tree-claw if they could. They were back within seconds, reporting the good news that they could come with me so we headed outside together.

**Mountain-kit**

As I walked out of the nursery, I could not help but be amazed at the size of the camp! It was a circular cave with a small round exit. The top was made of thorny vines and had sticks to support them. Because of the vines, the camp had a greenish glow and an earthy smell to it. At one end there was a cave with a entrance of vines. I guessed that that was the warrior den. On the other side, there was a bramble bush that I thought could be the apprentices den. As if reading my thoughts, Speed-paw pointed at the cave and said "That is the warriors den. And this" he said pointing to the bramble bush "is my den, the apprentice den." I looked back behind us and saw that the nursery was a cave, a lot like the warriors den.

**3rd person **

As the two kits looked around the camp, Lily-star walked over to them. Lily-star was a slender, light-brown and white, calico cat. She had a calming air to her that was perfect for her job of leading the clan. Speed-paw walked up to her, respectfully bowed his head and said "Hello Lily-star."

Lily-star dipped her head in greeting to the young apprentice and looked at the kits. The bigger one she thought might make a good fighter and the smaller one looked very fast and Lily-star thought she would make a good hunter.

**Mountain-kit**

As I looked at Lily-star, I felt as if just by looking she could tell everything about me. I dipped my head, knowing instinctively that that was how to greet a leader. Owl-kit followed my lead.

As soon as Lily-star went to talk with Tree-claw, Owl-kit looked at me and said "I feel as if she can tell everything about me in one glance."

"Yeah" I replied "we are going to have to be careful around her."


	2. Chapter 2

**3rd person**

The next five moons seemed to fly by for Owl-kit and Mountian-kit. On a warm August morning, Speed-paw and Mountian-kit were play fighting and Owl-kit was hunting a butterfly nearby. Just as Speed-paw was showing Mountain-kit a complicated swiping move, they heard a low groan coming from the nursury. Shell-tail, a very light-gray cat had been in the nursury for only one moon, but it sounded as if she was already having her kits. Both sisters rushed into the nursury with Speed-paw close at their heels. They came in just in time to see the birth of a white kit. Soon after, a second kit was born. It too was white. The last kit born was black.

Suddenly, they heard a growl come from behind them as Panther-shadow, a strong tom, black as night, stuck his head into the den.

Panther-shadow let out a yowl of surprise as he saw the three kits. "They shoulden't have come yet, right?!" He exclamed.

"Come now Panther-shadow, will you stop yowling your head off?" said Herb-leaf, the healing cat, looking annoyed. "And yes you are right, they should not have come yet, but they will be totally fine."

There was a pause as everyone looked at the kits. Mountain-kit broke the silence by saying "Well, what will you name them?"

Shell-tail seemed also to have been thinking about names and said "I think this one" she pointed at the black kit "should be named Star-kit."

Suprised, Panther-shadow asked "Why?!"

"Because, there is a little white dot on her forhead that lookes like a star in the black sky" she answered.

"And this one" Panther-shadow said "should be named Light-kit because of the silver stripe down his back."

Suddenly Owl-kit said "How about you name the last one moon kit because this black shape on his back lookes like a moon."

"Owl-kit!" Tree-claw exclamed "It's their decision what to name their kits!"

"It's fine Tree-claw, and I think that Owl-kit is right about the moon on his back. I think I will name him Moon-kit" Shell-tail reassured.

Panther-shadow, taking action, said "Well, no time to lose. Come on Speed-paw, we should go and train." With that Panther-shadow left the den with Speed-paw following behind him sending Mountain-kit a look that said "I'm sorry".

"One more day and we will also be walking out with our mentors!" Said Mountain-kit with annoyance. "We are so useless, just sitting here in this den, not doing anything to help the clan even though it is almost the season of snow!"

"Mountain-kit, relax!" said Owl-kit forcefully. "I know you are upset that we are not helping, but as you said it's only one more day till we can help, and anyway yowling your head off is not going to help anyone. I think if you want to be helpful, we can clean the nursury and take care of the kits so that the clan will have one more she-cat to help hunt.

Taking acton on Owl-kit's words, Mountain-kit took all of the dirty straw and moss from their beds and dumped it outside. Seeing what she was doing, Owl-kit walked outside to Herb-leaf's den to get more straw.

**Mountain-kit **

Owl-kit was right. When I was helping clean the dens, time flew and before I knew it, it was time to go to bed and sleep. That night I had the weirdest dream ever. It started out in a forest at night. At first I thought I was alone, but then I saw a dim light a few feet away. As I walked closer to it, I saw it was a small bonfire. I looked around to see who had made the fire and I saw a girl. The girl had long, wavy, black hair that fell down about six inches above her waist. Her face was tan and weather-beaten, but what struck me the most were her eyes. They were bright green like leaves with sunlight shining through them. She was wearing jeans with holes at the knees and a brown cotton shirt. The only thing keeping her warm was a cape that looked to be made out of some rough brown thread.

As I was looking at her, her eyes seemed to find mine and she looked at me with intrest. Suddenly I heard footsteps in the distance. She seemed to hear them too because she quickly smothered her fire and disappeared into the darkness. I didn't get to see what happened next because I was awoken by Owl-kit telling me to get ready for my first day as an apprenitce.


	3. Chapter 3

**Emerald **

Dang! They found me again. I must keep moving. I should not have stayed so long in one place! Oh well. The damage is done and it cannot be undone. It was strange though. For a second I thought I saw a cat's eyes. But they could not have been cat's eyes because they were gray! But then I was pulled out of the dream-like trance because of the noise of the hunters. I can't believe they found me! I'm in the deepest, darkest part of the forest. Oh no! I got nettles in my boot. Wait, what's that? It looks like a safe hollow with thorns growing on the sides! I'll be safe there. Now I just have to get to it...

**Owl-kit **

Right before we got our apprentice names, a cat (I think it was Panther-shadow) yowled, " Two-leg kit!" _A human child? Close to the_ _hallow?_ _How could that be?_ And then I heard it. A crashing sound. Suddenly the child came jumping into a small hole in the roof. She landed smack dab in the middle of the clearing, right next to Lily-star!

"Well, that went better then I expected!" She said with a sheepish laugh.

**Emerald **

I looked around and realized that I had come in the middle of a cat meeting. Well, it _looked_ like a meeting. I saw two cats that stood out. I jumped off of the rock and walked over to them. The thing is, when I had spoken, the two cats seemed to understand me. But how could that be? Suddenly I stopped. One of the cats had_gray eyes._ I crouched down and looked at the two cats. "Can you understand me?" I asked them. They nodded their heads. Then I felt a black tom's claws on my back and heard enough growls to scare a pack of wolves.

**Mountain-kit **

As we nodded, Panther-shadow pounced on the human. While every other cat growled, the child struggled to get Panther-shadow off her back. "Stop!" Owl-kit and I screeched at the same time. Surprisingly, every cat stopped and looked at us. "Why are you attacking her when she has done nothing to you? Are we like all the other... two-legs... and will attack the other kind without hesitating? Are we?" I said forcefully.

All the cats looked an each other. Panther-shadow had unintentionally taken out his claws and had slid down until he fell to the ground. He crouched down and slinked away.

Lily-star's voice rang out. "She's right, you know. Are we like those of her kind? Let us allow her to show us why she is here, and give her a chance to leave.

Emerald seemed to understand what Lily-star was saying because she backed up a little bit. But then she turned to Owl-kit and me and said "Hi, I'm Emerald. Please tell these cats that I mean no harm and want to know if I can stay here with you for a little bit."

I nodded and told the clan what she had said.

**3****rd**** Person**

All of the warriors made a circle to talk about the request. "I don't think we should let her in." Panther-shadow said right away.

"What do you think the danger could be?" Asked Leaf-nose.

"I'm not sure, but we already know that our luck is bad. Why test it now!?" Panther-shadow said angrily swiping his tail.

Many cats seemed swayed by his argument, but Lily-star was not. "We will let this two-leg stay in our camp for the time being. And if she is useful we might even let her stay for a longer time." She said this with a determined air that seemed to declare the discussion done. Panther-shadow opened his mouth to argue but was silenced by Lily-star's glare. Emerald seemed to understand that she could stay, because she went to sit in a corner quietly looking thankful.

Lily-star jumped up onto a rock and said "Mountain-kit and Owl-kit, you have been kits for six moons and it is now time for you to join the clan as apprentices. Your name's are now Owl-paw and Mountain-paw." Both new apprentices felt very exited that they were part of the clan, but they were not done yet because they would now get their mentors.

"Eagle-eye and Red-fur, you have both been very faithful to the clan and to thank you, Red-fur, you will be a mentor to Owl-paw and Eagle-eye, you will be a mentor to Mountain-paw." Said Lily-star. Mountain-paw and Owl-paw walked over to their mentors. Lily-star called attention to everyone again and announced, "There are also three apprentices that I think have enough experience to become full warriors. Flower-paw, Bush-paw, and Bear-paw please step forward. As full warriors, you shall be named Bear-heart, Bush-tail and Flower-stem."

**Owl-paw**

The rest of the day was not very exiting. Red-fur said that we should not go training till the next day. So, we got to clean out the warriors' den. Once we had finished, Mountain-paw went to play-fight with Speed-paw and I saw a beautiful light-blue butterfly and went to chase it. While I was chasing it I saw Emerald making something out of the same fabric that her cape was made of. I gave up on the butterfly and went to see what she was making.

I walked over to Emerald and nudged the fabric so she would know that I wanted to know what she was doing. It took her a second to realize what I wanted, but she soon realized and said, "Oh, you want to know what this is? It's tree bark that I can weave and it's very warm and water proof." I wanted so much to tell her how cool I thought that was. I had never found not being able to talk so annoying! Suddenly it occurred to me that I might be able to write with my paw in the dirt. Testing the idea, I wrote "Cool" in the dirt. She smiled at me and looked very pleased that she could talk to me and I could talk back. Happily I walked back to the middle of the clearing to tell Mountain-paw what I had discovered.

**3****rd**** person**

Mountain-paw and Owl-paw followed their mentors out of the camp and into the woods. They walked until they got to a clearing. The clearing was surrounded by trees and was dappled with green light.

Eagle-eye started off by saying, "You two will be sharing training. Today we will practice hunting."

Now Red-fur stepped forward and said "We will be practicing how to hunt small prey, like mice or rabbits. The trick to hunting them is to be very light on your feet because they will feel you before they see, hear, or smell you. Eagle-eye and I will show how it should be done. I will be the rabbit and he will be the hunter." Red-fur walked away and acted as if they were not there. Then Eagle-eye walked up to him his stomach so close to the ground that he was hard to see in the grass. His footsteps were so light that it was almost like he was gliding over the ground. Then he pushed off from the ground still making sure to be silent, landed of Red-fur's back, and fake-bit his neck. Shaking him off Red-fur said, "Each of you will practice stepping lightly and staying silent." The rest of the training flew by.

Mountain-paw was struggling to stay quiet and light, but was improving. Owl-paw, on the other had, was a natural. She could glide so smoothly across the ground that it seemed like she was not even there. To end the training their mentors told them to go and try to catch one mouse in the strip of forest surrounding the clearing. They both managed to catch their prey and together headed back to camp.

When Mountain-paw and Owl-paw got back to the camp they started to go to the apprentice's den, but they were stopped by Emerald calling them over. In her hand she was holding a bit of cloth that they saw was made out of bark. As they padded over she said "I made this for you two as a coat of sorts. Here, is it ok if I show you how it works?" Owl-paw nodded and stepped forward. Emerald put the cloth on her back and strapped it under her stomach. It had a small hood that had holes for the ears. There were also two pockets with straps on them. When Owl-paw moved her back the fabric stretched and moved with her. "Do you like it?" Emerald asked.

Owl-paw's eyes showed her excitement as Emerald pulled the coat off her back. With that, the two apprentices bounded away to tell the clan about Emerald's idea.


	4. Chapter 4 -

**3****rd**** person**

Mountain-paw and Owl-paw walked over to Lily-star and Owl-paw said, "Emerald made us capes out of tree bark. The capes are water proof and very warm."

"We were wondering if the clan could maybe use them when the season of snow comes?" Mountain-paw asked looking hopeful. Lily-star was about to answer when the whole camp heard growls and barks coming from outside. Every warrior froze for a second and then they all started moving at once.

As warriors were taking their station around the camp, Red-fur hurried over to Owl-paw and Mountain-paw and said "Come on! You two need to get to the apprentice den!" With that he ran off to Dust-tail, who was calling his name. Owl-paw and Mountain-paw looked at each other and then sprinted to the apprentice den. Less than a second after they reached the den the first dog crashed into the camp. He was gigantic and black and his eyes were as dark as night. The apprentices did not get to see what happened next because Small-paw pulled them away from the opening. Small-paw was a small, fire-red tom. Even though he was small, he was very fast and smart.

"You don't want to be seen by any of the dogs." Small-paw explained, "Say a dog sees your small heads sticking out of here. His first thought will be 'Oh look, two little cats all alone! I think I will eat them!' And if he thinks that we are all dead." Speed-paw nodded and looked at the opening worriedly, but saw nothing. It seemed one dog did see them before Small-paw pulled them away because they now heard a low growl behind them.

They all whipped around and saw a light brown dog staring directly at them. The dog's eyes took in the four apprentices and glittered with hungry greed. For a second they all looked at each other then Small-paw and Speed-paw jumped into action. Small-paw jumped at the dog and tried to scratch his eyes while Speed-paw hurried in front of Owl-paw and Mountain-paw.

"Stop! We can fight too!" Mountain-paw yelled trying to push past Speed-paw.

Because they were arguing Mountain-paw and Speed-paw did not notice that the dog had hit Small-paw and he was passed out on the ground a little way away. But Owl-paw had not been part of the argument, so she saw that Small-paw was not fighting anymore and that the dog was sneaking up on them.

"Guys, behind you!"

All three of them spun around and saw the dog. Speed-paw jumped at the dog as soon as he saw it, but because he did not take time to plan he was knocked away by the dog's paw. He landed a few feet away and lay there panting. The dog then turned to Owl-paw and Mountain-paw.

"Mountain-paw" Owl-paw said with forced calm, "I am going to jump on the dog's back and it will roll. When it rolls you need to go and scratch his stomach. Got it?"

"Yeah" Mountain-paw said looking nervous "I'll distract it, while you are trying to get on his back."

With that Mountain-paw started hissing at the dog so it kept it's whole attention on her. Owl-paw padded slowly around to the left side of the dog. Then not even talking a second to think, she pounced on its back and bit down on the back of his neck. As she had predicted the dog rolled over when he felt her on him, giving Mountain-paw a clear shot at his stomach. Leaping at the opportunity, Mountain-paw scratched the dog's unprotected underside. The dog growled, but the scratch seemed to be painful enough because he then ran out of the den, his tail between his legs.

Mountain-paw quickly ran up to Owl-paw. "Are you okay?" She asked looking worried.

"If you're going to ask someone if their okay, you should be asking those two." Owl-paw said, nodding at Small-paw and Speed-paw.

"I'm fine." Small-paw said trying to get up.

"Yeah, I'm fine too." Speed-paw said licking a scratch on his leg.

"No you two are NOT fine." Mountain-paw said glaring at them, "You two will come to the medicine cat right now."

"Okay, okay! No need to kill us about it." Speed-paw said smiling. Mountain-paw smiled to and started to walk out of the den. "Hey Owl-paw, how about you come with us." Small-paw said smiling at her.

"Okay." Owl-paw replied returning the smile. With that the four of them walked out of the den, Speed-paw talking to Mountain-paw and Small-paw talking to Owl-paw.

**Please review! It will give me so much more of a reason to write! Thanks to everyone who is reading this! :) **


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